1.Introduce yourself and your band and tell us why we should listen to you.
Hey
I'm Steven Campbell, lead vocalist and bass play of Avalanche, we've
also got Veronica ‘V’ Taleski on guitar and Ryan Roma on drums. We've
just had Arthur Divis join us as well as rhythm guitarist. The music
that we make is fast, punchy and hard hitting, it’s one of those
energetic brands of rock that will make you want to get up and start
smashing things. We're all quite young, but we play a brand of rock you
haven't heard in a while, and you've definitely never heard it the way
we do it.
2.What do you classify your sound as, Who do you tell people you sound like?
Heart-racing,
gut busting, roof crashing, fast paced Rock 'N Roll. Influenced mostly
by bands like AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, Guns N Roses and other 70s/80s hard
rock bands, but played through the interpretation of our generation.
We're loud, heavy, got a lot of blues influences and Chuck Berry
influences, but we've also got a lot of things you've never heard
before.
3.With digital music in today's world would you vote to keep or eliminate physical media?
Absolutely
not, there's still something about going out and buying a record on
vinyl or even CD and just lying there and listening to it without any
distractions, and I think a lot of people our age would agree. Physical
media will always have a place I think, we just ordered a whole bunch of
CD’s for our new EP and they look and sound fantastic and we've already
had a lot of interest in them. It’s just the only difference now is how
much easier it is to get your music, there’s always gonna be the fans
out there that will want a physical copy of whatever it is you’re
putting out there.
4.What is the reason you decided to be a musician and has that reason paid off?
I
think the reason I became a musician was because all I could do when I
was younger was sit down and play, and it became a bit of an obsession
and when I finally got onstage and started playing in front of people I
realised it’s one of the only things I do that I could never get sick of
or even put into the same category as work. For the most part, that
belief has stayed the same for me and I feel it’s always fulfilled if I
keep that belief.
5.How do you feel about females in metal getting special attention? Do you feel it is fair?
I
think for the most part females in metal don’t really get a lot of
attention, I don’t really feel they get any special attention and in a
lot of ways it’s probably quite a bit harder to be taken seriously. But
I’m all for anyone getting somewhere with there craft, after all we if
we can’t be accepting and supportive of people in our own industry then
how do we expect anyone to do the same for us. If you're good, you're
good, shouldn't matter who you are.
6.In the world climate with hatred being at an all time high and metal being an “ angry” music
Do you think your music contributes to anger and hatred?
No,
I think rock and metal music is an outlet for anger, it doesn't breed
anger or hatred, it allows the listener to let go of those feelings and
what they might be going through or what might be happening in the world
at the moment and just have a good time. That's how it should be
anyway. I actually used to fall asleep to heavy metal, it used to calm
me throughout high school when I was a pretty angsty but anxious teen,
it’s almost as if you can put your own anger and frustrations into the
artists and all of a sudden it disappears.
7.Are you opposed to religious beliefs or politics being used in music?
I
guess it has its place for some bands, but we've never really been
interested in doing that. We have songs about hell and the devil like
any other rock and metal band worth their salt, but it's all in good
fun, you won't see us at the satanic church anytime soon or anything.
Religion and politics is already everywhere, when you come to our show,
you can leave it at the door and just have a bit of fun with things.
8.We have dived into some pretty deep issues here do you think your music sends a message and if so what is it?
I
think for the most part we just want people to have a good time when
they listen to our music, and to release any frustrations they may have.
I think when people hear our music they’ll probably feel a mixture of
humour, excitement and raw energy. Our music doesn't have the most
deepest meaning in the world, but it's raw and real and it means the
world to us and I think anybody listening will feel that to.
9.The
market has changed and many bands believe that record labels are a
thing of the past, with many labels now charging bands to “sign” how do
you think a band can make it in todays scene?
Well
in my experience the best way to do it is yourself, at least for the
first year or so. So you get an idea of what exactly goes on behind the
scenes of being in a band, if you don’t know what these people are doing
for you, you could be getting screwed and not even realise it. Once you
get to a certain level where you feel like you actually need these
people to help you that’s when it’s a good idea to go looking, and
generally you can find a good deal with the right solicitor or someone
in the know how. It’s not easy to ‘make it’ these days but it’s not an
impossible feat, you just have to know what you’re getting yourself into
and I feel the best way to do that is by going headfirst into it
yourself.
10.Why with the thousands of options including netflix , sporting events everything on demand
Why do you think people should take the time to listen to what you have to say in your music?
I
think, from our experience at least, they'll always be people out
there, both young and old who will want to listen to a guitar band.
Music is one of the oldest art form and I think people connect with it
in a way different to everything else, people will always want to hear
music in some form of another and we’re pretty happy to say we play loud
and fast. Hopefully people will take the time out to listen to us and
follow our music because we can speak to them on a certain level.
11.How do you feel about pay to play? Do you think it is fair for a band to have to pay money to play?
Nah,
we haven't really come across that here in Sydney yet, but we don't
think it's fair. It's not like we get paid much as it is, and often even
when you are getting paid, you still gotta pay the sound guy and pay
for petrol and all these other things, we're not complaining or
anything, but you often end up losing money no matter which way you
slice it, so why charge even more on top?
12.It is fact that you are the talent and the entertainment explain what you think is the most important key to success?
I
think persistence and tenacity. It's physics, if you just keep going
you're bound to get somewhere right? Most bands fail because they give
up, if you just keep going and giving it everything you got, then
failure isn't really an option because you don't have anything else. In
other words, never have a plan B haha.
13.In
country music and even in some cases rock music is written and
performed by different people would your band perform a song written by
someone else?
Nah, we've done covers of Johnny B
Goode and a bit of AC/DC and such in the past, but too actually go out
and a release a song that we didn't write we probably wouldn't do it.
What's the point really if you can't write your own material?
14.If you are pro female in music are you pro using sex to sell your music?
Ask
Veronica haha. Well a lot of our songs are about sex, we have Balls
Deep and On Your Back so far and Veronica’s the one who came up with
those. But even for the male’s, Rock’s always been a pretty sexualised
genre, look at Axl Rose or Mick Jagger or Bon Scott? You think he wore
jeans that tight by accident? You just gotta do what feels right, and
there's no use denying what the genre’s about and what it's always been
about, might as well embrace it I guess.
15.What
is your view on the lawsuits against people saying lewd or
unprofessional things to women or men and how does that affect an art
described as sex drugs and rock n roll ?
Well
obviously bad behaviour like that should not be tolerated, but when it
comes to rock music, I think whatever's said or done in a rock song or a
gig should all be in good fun and not to hurt anyone. Both men and
women should be free to express their love of sex, drugs and rock and
roll without harming anybody else or fearing judgement you know? From
the shows we've been at and other bands we've seen, there hasn't been
much of a problem and everybody always seems to be pretty cool with each
other.
16. Ok lets lighten up a bit. What is your favorite band of all time and why?
I'll let Veronica take this one.
Veronica:
AC/DC. We'd all seen them on the Rock or Bust tour on different dates
before we were even a band. They are the reason I picked up the guitar
and after seeing them live, realising they were just this band from
Burwood which is a couple suburbs down from where I grew up, it just
made me believe that I could do this for a living. I had heard from
someone who had heard from the ex-drummer of AC/DC that Angus Young used
to lock himself up in hotel rooms when they were on tour and just
practice for hours on end each day, so I thought I better start doing
the same. I went out and bought a shitty second hand epiphone SG from a
police auction; played the shit out of that and now I've got 2 Gibson
SG’s, one in cherry and one in ebony, and a vintage Marshall stack to
boot. I met Ryan our drummer, and between us we know how to play every
single AC/DC song there is and that's how we started playing together.
They're music is just such a joy to listen you, they opened up a whole
new world or musical influences, from blues to early rock and roll that I
probably would otherwise have never listened to. Now I love the blues
and rock and roll and metal but they pretty much started it all for me.
They're still just the most powerful band I ever heard and I don't think
anyone could ever top them.
17.What would you be doing if you were not in a band?
Whatever pays the bills so I can be in a band.
18. Do you have a favorite sports team?
Parramatta Eels the NRL, Aussie rugby team.
19.If you could get on stage with anyone dead or alive who would it be?
I
would have to say Jimi Hendrix just from the raw power he had onstage,
it would’ve been a true marvel even just to watch him do his thing but
let alone be onstage with. There’s just no one I can think of that
managed to be as big of an inspiration and influential guitarist.
Veronica would say Angus and Malcolm Young, and maybe Keith Richards.
Ryan would say Phil Rudd and also Motörhead, he fucking loves Lemmy.
20.This is your shot to let loose, Throw down your biggest complaint about the music biz
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